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Trojans win ACCC crown

Prior to Central Alabama’s first ACCC tournament game against Southern Union, head baseball coach Wynn Fletcher said the teams that won the rest of the way would do so by virtue of playing better than the competition.
After following up a 15-3 semifinal beatdown of the Bisons with a 13-5 victory to claim the ACCC championship, it appears that it doesn’t get any better than the CACC Trojans.
With an offensively-charged run through Ozark, Central Alabama has punched its ticket to the NJCAA College World Series in Grand Junction, Colo.
“This is the best team I’ve ever had, bar none,” Fletcher said. “They put the time in and got the job done when it counted.”
John Michael Knighton picked up the win for the Trojans, who used an early lead to springboard to the championship.
Southern Union came back to tie the game, but the Trojans’ clutch hitting at the plate was able to put the Bisons away.
“We had some really timely hits with two outs,” Fletcher said. “We were able to get the lead and John Michael held it for us.”
CACC came into the tournament having won its last eight games, and the Trojans’ last three wins came versus tournament No. 1 seeds.
Central Alabama’s two wins over Southern Union was the same amount of wins the Trojans picked up in seven earlier tries this year.
Fletcher said that despite a less than stellar record against the Bisons, the team’s mindset was not affected.
“Regardless of who we played, we were going to play the exact same way,” he said. “But we just so happened to be playing well. Two years ago, we were in this same position. But after a bad pitch and a bad throw to first, Southern Union ended up going to the College World Series and we didn’t. I felt like it was our time this year. We’re proud to be representing Alexander City and the school. We wouldn’t be anywhere without them.”
CACC landed four players on the all-tournament team: second baseman Ben Hall, pitcher/outfielder Paul Young, pitcher John Michael Knighton, and catcher Blaine Miller. Darius Reese was named the tournament’s MVP.